Atkins Diet Gets an Overhaul

The Atkins Diet has undergone some updates. And some of what is “new” really isn’t new at all.

I’ll never forget my first exposure to the Atkins diet. A co-worker of mine ran to a fast food joint for lunch, came back with three hamburgers and promptly stripped them of the bun, ketchup, and other toppings and then ate only the patties. She couldn’t say enough good about the weight loss plan she was on, but even at the time I thought she must have something wrong. What diet would promote eating a bunch of greasy, red meat patties? Wrong or not, she kept up her meat-filled eating habits and a few months later, she was wearing smaller pants. By the end of the year, however, she had gained all of that weight back.

To really have lasting effects, a diet plan has to be sustainable. It has to promote healthy habits that make sense for a lifetime — not just for quick results on a scale. Dr. Eric C. Westman, co-author of The New Atkins for a New You, told The New York Times that vegetables have always been an important part of the Atkins plan and that the all-meat-all-the-time thinking was a misconception. (Aha! My co-worker did have it wrong back in the day. But she carried the old Atkins book around like a bible, so I don’t know how she misunderstood.)

The new Atkins plan, however, takes updated science into consideration. The new plan incorporates the glycemic index and allows followers to subtract fiber grams. In addition, the plan promotes non-starchy “foundation” vegetables such as asparagus, broccoli, leafy greens and string beans.

In 2003 and surrounding years when Atkins was wildly popular, Dr. Westman thinks many people followed the induction phase of the diet and didn’t know what to do after that. The new plan teaches you how to reintroduce carbs gradually based on your body’s metabolism and how it tolerates carbs.

As for me, I’m going to stick with healthy eating habits and exercise and not follow any specific plan. I’ve just never been a believer in following anything other than good nutrition sense. How about you? Will you give the New Atkins plan a try?